The process of system optimization was like spring rain nourishing all things, silent yet unceasing. I no longer needed to actively "seek out" targets. Anomalous information structures stood out on their own within my vast perception, like oil slicks on water. My interventions grew ever more subtle, no longer confined to socioeconomic structures, but beginning to touch the boundaries of physical laws and the essence of life.
At a radioactive waste dumping site deep in international waters, the information stream of its continual pollution of the marine ecosystem was like a stubborn speck of noise. I did not track down the company responsible, nor did I attempt physical removal-that would have triggered an even greater disturbance in the information. I merely "adjusted," ever so slightly, the information governing the metabolic pathways of several specific microorganisms in the surrounding seawater, along with the proportions of certain trace elements in the currents. On a mortal timescale, this adjustment would accelerate the natural decay, precipitation, and solidification of radioactive substances, shortening the period in which they posed a danger by several orders of magnitude. This was not magic, but "catalysis" based on an understanding of matter's deeper information structures.
Elsewhere, a small-scale armed conflict over resources was about to erupt. I did not prevent it, nor did I kill any commanders. I merely caused a series of "coincidental" errors to appear simultaneously in the information streams of both sides' logistical systems-critical ammunition deliveries were delayed twenty-four hours by "clerical errors"; reconnaissance reports received by frontline commanders contained "misinterpretations" of crucial terrain data; even the encrypted communication channels of both sides' top decision-makers briefly picked up snippets of unencrypted, mundane conversation from soldiers in the opposing camp who missed their families.
The conflict still occurred, but its intensity dropped sharply, its duration shortened, and